Attachment

Question 1

Formation of attachment

Answer 1

It’s a two way bond (emotional) to a specific other person usually a parent and child.

Question 2

Infant caregiver interactions

Answer 2

Early interactions are meaningful. From a very early age babies and caregivers have intense and meaningful interactions. The quality of these interactions is associated with the successful development of attachments.

Two kinds of interaction - reciprocity (taking turns to respond) and interactional synchrony (simultaneous imitation)

Question 3

Reciprocity

Answer 3

Reciprocity is achieved when baby and caregiver respond to and elicit responses from each other. Eg a caregiver responds to a baby’s smile by saying something and then the baby responds by making sounds of pleasure.
Alert phases are time for interaction - mothers successfully respond around 2/3 of the time (Feldman and Eidelman 2007). From around 3 months this interaction becomes more intense and reciprocal.
Active involvement - traditional views of childhood has seen the baby in a passive role receiving care from an adult. However, it seems that babies are active participants. Both caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and take turns to do so.

Question 4

Interactional synchrony

Answer 4

Interactions involve synchrony - mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and so this is a co-ordinated, synchronised way. ‘The temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’ (Feldman 2007) eg caregiver and baby mirror each other

Question 5

Interactional synchrony - Meltzoff and Moore (1977)

Answer 5

The beginnings of interactional synchrony - they observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old. Adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three gestures. Filmed the babies responses. Babies expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of adults than chance would predict.

Question 6

Interactional synchrony - Isabella et al (1989)

Answer 6

Importance for attachment - observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The researcher also assessed the quality of mother- baby attachment. They found a high levels of synchrony associated with better quality mother-baby attachment e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship.

Question 7

Infant caregiver interactions - AO3 - use of filmed observation =strength

Answer 7

Mother - baby interactions are usually filmed often from multiple angles. Very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and analysed later. Also babies don’t know they’re being observed so their behaviour does not change in response to observation ( generally the main problem for observational research). This means the studies have good reliability and validity.

Question 8

Infant caregiver interactions - AO3 - limitation - hard to interpret babies behaviour

Answer 8

Feldman 2012 points out that synchrony and reciprocity simply describe behaviours that occur at the same time. These are robust phenomena in the sense that they can be reliable observed but this may not be useful as it does not tell us their purpose. This means that we cannot be certain from observations that reciprocity or synchrony are important in development.
Counter - there is some evidence from other sources for example Isabella et al 1989 at a good levels of reciprocity and synchrony are associated with good quality attachments. This means on balance these early interactions are likely to have importance for development.

Question 9

Infant caregiver interactions - AO3 - difficultly in obsessing babies

Answer 9

It’s hard to observe babies behaviour because they are not very co-ordinated. We just observe small gestures and small changes in expression. It is also hard to interpret the meaning of babies movements eg deciding if a hand movement is in response to the caregiver or a random twitch. This means we cannot be certain that any particular interactions observed between baby and caregiver are meaningful.

Question 10

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment

Answer 10

Studied the attachment behaviour of babies and their findings showed how attachment behaviour changes with age.

Question 11

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - stage 1

Answer 11

Asocial/ preattachment stage - in babies first few weeks of life. Behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is quite similar. Recognises and starts to bond to carer and show preference for familiar adults as easier to calm them. Happier in presence of other humans and show preference for human faces

Question 12

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - stage 2

Answer 12

Indiscriminate attachment - happens at 2 to 7 months. Babies display more observable social behaviour. Show preference for being with other humans than inanimate objects and recognise and prefer familiar people. Usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adults so ‘indiscriminate’ so don’t usually show separation or strange anxiety.

Question 13

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - stage 3

Answer 13

Specific/ discriminate attachment - 7+ months. Majority of babies start to display anxiety towards strangers and have separation anxiety when attachment figure is absent or separated from them. This is the biological mother in 65% of cases. Have formed a specific attachment called primary attachment figure not necessarily who child spends the most time with its who offers most interactions and responds to baby signals with most skill.

Question 14

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - stage 4

Answer 14

Multiple attachments - by one year. after showing attachment behaviour for one person or adult they usually extend this behaviour to multiple attachments. These are called secondary attachments. With other adults that regularly spend time with them. Schaffer and Emerson’s study showed 29% of children had a secondary attachment within one month of primary attachment. By age of one most infants have developed multiple attachments.

Question 15

Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) research into stages of attachment

Answer 15

Aimed to investigate formation of early attachments. Sample of 60 babies (31M and 29F) from Glasgow and majority working class. Longitudinal study - research as visited babies at home every month for first year and again 18 months. Used observations and interviews with mothers such as asked about kind of protest babies showed in seven every day interactions.
-Adult leaving room = separation anxiety
- also assess stranger anxiety when researcher started home visits by approaching infant
Found 25-32 weeks 50% showed separation anxiety towards caregiver. By 40 weeks 80% had a specific attachment to primary caregiver and 30% showed multiple attachments eg father.
Pattern of attachment common to all infants. It’s biologically controlled and attachments more easily made with sensitive people.

Question 16

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - AO3 - good external validity

Answer 16

Most of the observations, not stranger anxiety, were made by the parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers. The alternative would be to have observers present in the babies homes. This may have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious. This means it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.
Counter - mothers may have been biased in what they reported for example they might not have noticed when the baby was showing signs of anxiety or may misremembered it. This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.

Question 17

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - AO3 - poor evidence for asocial stage

Answer 17

Because of their stage of physical development, young babies have poor coordination and are fairly immobile. This makes it difficult for mothers to report signs of anxiety, and attachment for this age group. This means the babies might actually be quite social but because of flawed methods they appeared to be asocial.

Question 18

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - AO3 - has practical application

Answer 18

In the early stages, asocial and indiscriminate attachments, babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. But if a child starts daycare later during the stage of specific attachments care for an unfamiliar adult may cause distress and longer term problems. this means that Schaffer and Emersons stages can help parents making daycare decisions.

Question 19

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - AO3 - low population validity

Answer 19

Schaffer and Emerson based their stages on a single but large scale study of babies whose development was conducted in working class Glasgow. However, child rearing practices vary considerably according to cultural and historical context e.g. multiple attachments the norm in collectivist cultures (van Ijzendoorn 1993). This means that some of the observations from this study may not generalise to other populations.

Question 20

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 20

Traditionally, fathers play minor role but norm for mothers to have a job (5.3m in 2013) 9% single parents are male (180k) so have a bigger role in parenting than before

Question 21

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson (1964) - primary attachment usually with mothers but sometimes both

Answer 21

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found majority of babies first attach to mother at around 7 months and in only 3% of cases the father was the sole attachment figure. 27% of cases father was joint first object of attachment with mother.

Question 22

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - fathers are secondary attachments

Answer 22

Appears most fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of babies Schaffer and Emerson studied formed an attachment with father by 18 months as protested when father walked away = sign of attachment.

Question 23

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - a distinctive role for the father - Grossman at al (2002)

Answer 23

Studied how important our fathers in children’s development and do they have a distinct role is a different role of mothers. It was a longitudinal study where babies attachments were studied until they were teens. 44 Families were involved.
Looked at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachment experience . Quality of babies attachments with mother but not father was related to attachment in adolescence suggests father attachment is less important.
However, also found the quality of fathers play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments . Fathers have a different role to mothers - one to do with play and stimulation and less to do with development.

Question 24

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - early research

Answer 24

Focuses on mother-infant interaction. Bowlby - one primary caregiver usually mother. In early research fathers less of caregiver more of a playmate. Mothers perceived as nurturing so recognise and respond to needs (sensitive responsiveness).

Question 25

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - fathers as primary attachment figures

Answer 25

Fathers as primary attachment figures - there is more primary attachment than being first it has special emotional significance. Their relationship with their primary attachment figure forms the basis of all later close emotional relationships. Evidence to suggest fathers do take on a primary caregiver that able to adopt emotional role more typically associated with mothers.

Question 26

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - fathers as primary attachment figures - evidence - field (1978)

Answer 26

Films four months old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers, and secondary caregiver fathers. Primary caregiver fathers like mothers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants compared to secondary caregiver fathers. Which is all part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony so this behaviour appears to be more important in building attachment with infant. Father can be more naturally and more emotion focused primary attachment figure and provide responsiveness for close emotional attachment. Key to attachment = level of responsiveness not gender.

Question 27

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - primary attachment figures - important factors

Answer 27

Degree of sensitivity - more secure attachment if father is more sensitive to child’s needs. Type of attachment with own parents = single fathers tender form similar attachment they had with theirs. Marital intimacy with partner affects type of attachment with child. Amount of support father gives to partner effects type of attachment.

Question 28

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - AO3 - individual differences

Answer 28

This effects how important the relationship is generally the more positive attachment a child has the better but individual differences in how father and child respond will always vary.

Question 29

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - AO3 - evidence for importance of role of father

Answer 29

Evidence suggests that on whole children with attachments to their fathers going to have better relationships with peers, less behaviour problems and more able to regulate their emotions therefore support the idea of the importance of the role of the father. Children grow up without fathers tend to do less well in school, have higher levels of aggression, especially boys again suggesting the importance of role of the father

Question 30

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - AO3 - inconsistent findings on research

Answer 30

This may be due to researchers being interested in different research questions. Some researchers want to understand the role of the father as a secondary attachment but others are more concerned with fathers as primary caregivers and these have seen fathers behaving differently than mothers and having a distinct role. This makes it difficult to answer the question of ‘what is the role of the father?’

Question 31

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - AO3 - conflicting evidence from different methodologies

Answer 31

Longitudinal studies such as Grossman suggest fathers have a distinct role in children’s development involving play and stimulation. However, mccallum and golombok 2004 found that children growing up in a single or same-sex parent family do not develop any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families suggesting fathers don’t have a distinct role.
Counter - findings may not be in conflict. Fathers may typically take on particular roles in two-parent heterosexual families. Other family structures adapt to not having father. This means that findings may be clear after all - there may be a distinctive role for fathers when present, but families adapt to not having one.

Question 32

The role of the father - Schaffer and Emerson - AO3 - grossman research does not explain why father don’t generally become primary attachment figures

Answer 32

Could be due to result of traditional gender roles in which women are expected to be more caring and nurturing than men so fathers don’t feel they should act like that. Or female hormones create high levels of nurturing females are biologically predisposed to be the primary attachment figure.

Question 33

Animal studies of attachment - Harlow (1958) importance of contact comfort procedure

Answer 33

He investigated whether food or comfort was more important in forming a bond. He reared 16 rhesus monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’
Condition 1 - milk was dispensed from plain wire mother
Condition 2 - milk was dispensed from the cloth-covered mother
The monkeys preferences were measured
To measure attachment-like behaviour, Harlow observed how the monkeys reacted when placed in frightening situations. Eg Harlow added a noisy mechanical teddy bear to the environment
Harlow and his colleagues also continued to study the monkeys who had been deprived of their ‘real’ mother into adulthood

Question 34

Animal studies of attachment - Harlow (1958) importance of contact comfort findings and follow up

Answer 34

Baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother and sought comfort from cloth one when frightened eg by a noisy mechanical teddy bear, regardless of which dispensed milk. Showed ‘contact comfort’ was more important to the monkey than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
Follow up - followed the monkeys who are deprived of a real mother into adulthood to see if early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect. Found reared with plain mother were most dysfunctional and with cloth covered mother did not develop normal social behaviour as in more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys and bred less often typical monkeys as unskilled at meeting also neglected they’re young and attacked or even killed their children.
Conclusions - critical 90 day period for attachment formation with a mother figure after that time attachment impossible and damage done by early deprivation irreversible.

Question 35

Animal studies of attachment - Harlow (1958) - AO3 - weakness of generalisability

Answer 35

Monkeys are clearly more similar to humans than Lorenzes geese and all mammals share some similarity in their attachment systems. However monkeys are not representative of humans and in some ways the human mind and behaviour is much more complex. This means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Harlows findings to humans.

Question 36

Animal studies of attachment - Harlow (1958) - AO3 - ethical issues

Answer 36

Harlows procedures caused severe long-term distress to his monkey participants and they became aggressive and did not develop normal social behaviour. However the research led to useful applications. His findings and conclusions have important theoretical and practical applications. This suggest that in spite of its benefits Harlows research should perhaps not have been carried out.

Question 37

Animal studies of attachment - Harlow (1958) - AO3 - has real world value

Answer 37

It helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse and thus intervene to prevent it (Howe 1998). We also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes. This means that harlows research has both benefited animals and humans.

Question 38

Animal studies of attachment - Lorenz (1952) - imprinting procedure

Answer 38

Investigated the mechanisms of imprinting where the goslings follow and form attachment to the first large thing they meet. He split a large clutch of goose eggs into two batches one hatched naturally by the mother in natural environment and the other hatched in animal incubator and the first moving object they saw was Lorenz. he recorded their behaviour and marked them to determine whether they were naturally hatched or incubated.

Question 39

Animal studies of attachment - Lorenz (1952) - imprinting findings

Answer 39

Incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas control group followed their mother. The same pattern of behaviour was seen when they were all released from an upturned box with incubator hatchlings going to Lorenz and showing no bond with natural mother. The bonds proved irreversible. Called imprinting bird species mobile from birth like Gossling attached to and follow first moving object they see. Lorenz Identified a critical period where imprinting needs to take place = approx 4 - 25 hrs after birth. If imprinting does not occur in that time the chicks do not attach themselves to mother figure.

Question 40

Animal studies of attachment - Lorenz (1952) - sexual imprinting

Answer 40

Found goslings that imprinted onto humans would attempt to mate with humans as adult birds (1952). He described a peacock that was reared in a reptile house at zoo so first moving objects saw after hatching was giant tortoises and as an adult would only direct court ship behaviour towards giant tortoises he concluded the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting.

Question 41

Animal studies of attachment - Lorenz (1952) - AO3 - lacks generalisability

Answer 41

Lacks generalised ability to humans as these findings are extrapolated from animals. Mammalian attachment system is quite different and more complex than in birds which was the sample. For example, mammals show more emotional attachment than birds and in mammals It’s a two-way process so not just young who attached their mothers the mammalian mothers show emotional support to young - so not appropriate to generalise to humans.

Question 42

Animal studies of attachment - Lorenz (1952) - AO3 - research bias

Answer 42

Lorenz wanted to prove his idea of imprinting so may have interpreted the behaviours to provide support for his theory. Means the study might lack internal validity. However considerable replications find the same results so it’s reliable and therefore likely to be internally valid.

Question 43

Animal studies of attachment - Lorenz (1952) - AO3 - existence of support for concept of imprinting

Answer 43

Regolin and Vallortigara (1995) exposed chicks to simple shape-combinations that moved. When shown a range of moving shapes, the chicks followed these in preference to other shapes. This suggest that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object.

Question 44

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950)

Answer 44

Learning theory explains attachment ( behaviourism) - the idea of cupboard love based on becoming attached to those who feed - classical conditioning of association. Emphasises importance of the attachment figure as a provider of food. All Attachments are learned through conditioning.

Question 45

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - role of classical conditioning

Answer 45

Involves learning to associate two stimuli. The baby has to learn to form at attachment with its mother. By the process of classical conditions the baby forms an association between the mother (a neutral stimulus) . The food serves as an UCS and the feeling of pleasure that comes from being fed (an innate UCR) - associated with mother and food. When the baby sees this person they have an expectation for food as they are comforted by the food.
The neutral stimulus is now a conditioned stimulus = mother
Once conditioning has taken place the sight of the caregiver produces a CR of pleasure. The mother now stimulates a feeling of pleasure on her own even without food.
To a learning theorist this conditioned pleasure is love ie an attachment is formed and the caregiver becomes an attachment figure.

Question 46

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - role of operant conditioning

Answer 46

Involves learning from the consequences of a behaviour. It can explain why babies cry for comfort = important behaviour in building attachment.
Crying leads to a response from caregiver eg feeding. As long as caregiver provides the correct response crying is reinforced because it produces a pleasurable consequence. The caregivers response is a comforting social suppressor behaviour.
At the same time as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops (negative reinforcement is escaping from something unpleasant, which is reinforcing). This interplay of positive/negative reinforcement strengthens an attachment.

Question 47

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - attachment as a secondary drive

Answer 47

Hunger is a primary drive, an innate biological motivator. We are motivated to eat to reduce the hunger drive.
Robert sears et al (1957) suggested that as caregivers provide food the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them. Attachment is then a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive.

Question 48

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - AO3 - studies to support

Answer 48

Ivan Pavlov study supports classical conditioning and associating something with food
Little Albert

Question 49

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - AO3 - lack of support from studies conducted on animals

Answer 49

Lorenz geese imprinted on the first large moving object they saw regardless of whether it was associated with food. So the attachment is not through conditioning like learning theory says. Harlow (1959) there is no support for the importance of food. The bay monkeys cuddled a cloth-covered object in preference to a wire one that dispensed milk so goes against learning theory as did not form attachment to who fed it. Shows factors other than association with food is important in formation of attachments.

Question 50

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - AO3 - lack of support from studies with human babies

Answer 50

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found babies tended to form their main attachment to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them. Russell Isabella et al (1989) found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment. These factors are not relayed to feeding so suggests food is not main factor in formation of human attachments.

Question 51

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - AO3 - strength is that it could explain how attachments form

Answer 51

We learn in a number of ways through association in real-life eg little Albert case study shows that when you combine a loud noise (UCS) with a NS (a rat) after much repetition this creates a CR (fear of the rat). This suggests learning theory may at least play a part in attachment formation as it seems unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment but conditioning still plays a role eg baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult which may influence the babies choice of their main attachment figure.
Counter - this point of view ignores the fact that babies take a very active role in the interactions that produce attachment for example they initiate interactions (Feldman and Eidelman 2007). This suggests that learning theory may be inappropriate in explaining any aspect of attachment.

Question 52

Explanations of attachment - learning theory - dollard and miller (1950) - AO3 - Hayand and Vespo (1988)

Answer 52

Suggest parents teach children to love them by demonstrating attachment to behaviours for example hugging. Parents also reinforced loving behaviour by sharing approval when babies display their own attachment behaviours e.g. giving attention to parents. Social learning perspective has further advantage that it is based around two- way interaction between baby and adult so fits better with research into the importance of reciprocity.

Question 53

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - the evolutionary explanation of attachment

Answer 53

He rejected learning theory and looked at Harlows and Lorenz work for ideas and proposed the evolutionary explanation

Question 54

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - attachment is innate like imprinting

Answer 54

Bowlby gave an evolutionary explanation - that attachment is innate system that gives a survival advantage. Imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure young animals stay close to their caregivers and this protects them from hazards.

Question 55

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - monotropy

Answer 55

Monotropic = have a primary attachment figure
He believed that the child’s attachment to one particular caregiver is different and more important than others. He called this person the ‘mother’ but clear it did not need to be biological mother or a women.
He believed the more time baby spent with this primary attachment figure/ mother-figure the better.
Put forward two principles to clarify this
1 = law of continuity - the more constant a child’s care, the better quality of attachment
2 = law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation add up. So, ‘the safest dose is therefore zero dose’

Question 56

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - babies are born with social releasers

Answer 56

Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours (eg smiling, cooing, gripping) that encourage attention from adults. The purpose of these social releasers is to activate adult social interaction ie make an adult attach to the baby. Bowlby recognised that attachment is a reciprocal system.

Question 57

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - critical period

Answer 57

Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period of about two years when the infant attachment system is active. He viewed it as a sensitive period. A child is maximally sensitive at 6 months and this may extend up to the age of 2 years. If an attachment has not formed in this time a child will find it much harder to form one later.

Question 58

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - internal working model

Answer 58

The first attachment forms an internal working model of relationships. Child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their caregiver and it serves as a model for what relationships are like eg a child whose formed an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable and will bring these qualities to future relationships but if first relationship involves poor treatment they will tend to form further poor relationships in which they will expect such treatment and treat others in this way. The internal working affects the child’s ability to be a parent themselves. People tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own experiences of being parented. This explains why children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves.

Question 59

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - continuity hypothesis

Answer 59

This attachment will continue with the next generation of children.

Question 60

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - support for internal working model

Answer 60

Internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next. Bailey et al (2007) assessed attachment relationships in mothers and their one year old babies. The researchers measured the mother’s attachment to their own primary attachment figure eg parents and assessed the quality of attachment of the babies. They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies. Supports Bowlbys idea that mother’s ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models which come from their early attachment experiences.

Question 61

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - support for role of social releasers

Answer 61

Clear evidence cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit attention from caregivers. Brazellen at al (1975) observed babies trigger interaction with adults using social releasers. The researchers then instructed the babies primary attachment figure to ignore their babies social releasers. Babies became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless when before they were normally responsive. Illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests they are important in the process of attachment development.

Question 62

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - concept of monotropy lacks validity

Answer 62

Schaffer and Emerson found (1964) in study of 60 infants from Glasgow that most infants formed their first attachment with one particular person but nearly one third formed multiple attachments in which there appeared to be no preferred attachment figure. First attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence but not necessarily different in quality from child’s other attachments eg other family member attachments provide all same key qualities eg emotional support, safe base.

Question 63

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - weakened of sensitive period

Answer 63

Czech twins were ‘discovered’ at the age of 7. They had been locked up and isolated from the outside world and abused by their stepmother since birth. When discovered they had no language ability at all. After loving one from two sisters by the age of 14 the Czech twins showed normal social and intellectual functioning and were able to form meaningful attachments - could argue the had each other and made attachment top each other.

Question 64

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - weakness of innate

Answer 64

Despite rapid advances in genetics there is no direct evidence for attachment genes.

Question 65

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - evidence that undermines internal working model and monotropy

Answer 65

The temperament hypothesis (kagan 1984) states that we have inborn temperamental differences such as ‘easy’ ‘slow to warm up’ and ‘difficult’. Psychologists who support this hypothesis believe that these temperaments can affect infant and adult relationships.

Question 66

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - supports internal working model

Answer 66

Siroufe et al (2005) longitudinal study followed ptps from infancy to late adolescence and found that early attachment type predicted later emotional and social behaviour eg secure infants were more likely to be rated as popular. Erickson et al (1985) observed 4 to 5 yr olds in pre-school settings. They found that securely attached children were less dependent on the teacher and were more confident undertaking tasks than insecurely attached children. Hazan and shaver (1987) found that adults ‘romantic attachments’ were closely linked to their infant attachments. Securely attached infants tended to have secure romantic attachments.

Question 67

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - support from hodges and tizard (1989)

Answer 67

Longitudinal study of institutionalised children, living in orphanages, who had formed no attachments in the early parts of their lives and had difficulty forming relationship with peers.

Question 68

Bowlby monotropic theory (1958,1969) - AO3 - feminist concerns

Answer 68

Laws of continuity and accumulated separation suggest that the mother who may work may negatively affect their child emotional development. Feminists like Erica Burman (1994) pointed out this belief sets up mothers to take the blame for anything that goes wrong for the child in the future and an excuse to restrict mother’s activities e.g. return to work. but prior to Bowlbys time people didn’t think mothers role was important as many custody disputes were settled in favour of the father because mothers were not regarded as necessary. Bowlbys ideas have many real-world applications such as key workers in daycare who build an attachment with particular babies.

Question 69

Ainsworths strange situation 1970

Answer 69

ainsworth and bell (1970) developed the strange situation as a method to assess the quality of a babys attachement to a caregiver.
method = controlled observation - in a lab so well-controlled environment - with a two-way mirror through which the psychologists can observe a babys behaviour
design = repeated measures
sample = infants aged 12-18m
IV = the 8 different epiosdes of the strange situation eg mother leaves, mother returns
DV = the babys responses - including seperation anxiety, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour and seeking proximity

Question 70

strange situation procedure - five categories

Answer 70

five categories are used to judge attachment quality
1) proximity seeking - well-attached babies stay close to caregiver - its tested through exploration
2) exploration and secure-base behaviour - good attachment makes a baby confident to explore using the caregiver as point of safety
3) stranger anxiety - displayed by well attached babies, tested when stranger comes in and talks to caregiver and approcahes baby and left with baby without caregiver
4) seperation anxiety - displayed by well-attached babies. tested when caregiver leaves baby alone/ with a stranger
5) response to reunion - if securely attached will great caregivers return with pleasure and seek comfort. tested when caregiver returns after leaving room and reunited with baby.

Question 71

strange situation procedure - seven episodes

Answer 71

the procedure has seven ‘episodes’ each lasting 3 mins
1) baby is encouraged to explore by caregiver
2) stranger enters and talks to caregiver, approaches baby
3) caregiver leaves
4) caregiver returns, stranger leaves
5) caregiver leaves baby alone
6) stranger returns
7) caregiver returns

Question 72

strange situation findings

Answer 72

found distinct patterns in the way babies behaved. they identified three main types of attachment
- secure attachment
-insecure - avoidant attachment
-insecure -resistant attachment

Question 73

strange situation findings - secure attachment

Answer 73

type B - 60 - 75% of british toddlers
children are more happy to explore but seeks proximity to caregiver ( secure base)
shows moderate seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety
requires and accepts comfort from caregiver on reunion

Question 74

strange situation findings - insecure - avoidant attachment

Answer 74

type A - 20-25% of british toddlers
babys explore freely and do not seek proximity ( no secure base)
shows little/ no seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety
avoids conatct at reunion stage

Question 75

strange situation findings - insecure - resistant attachment

Answer 75

type C - 3% of british toddlers
baby explores less and seeks greater proximity than others
shows considerable stranger and seperation anxiety
resists comfort when reunited with caregiver

Question 76

strange situation conclusions

Answer 76

-mothers cause different types of attachment
- sensitive, responsive and caring to a child = secure
- inconsistent mothers create anxious resistant infants
- ambivolant mothers who dismiss their infant create avoidant infants

Question 77

strange situation - AO3 - issue of population validity

Answer 77

unreasonable to make generalisations about all infant behaviour on basis of this sample. study and findings restricted to middle-class american infants so culturally biased

Question 78

strange situation - AO3 - test may be culture bound

Answer 78

strange situation was developed in britain and US so may be culture-bound so only valid for use in certain cultures. babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their responses to the SS eg in one japanese study by Takahaski babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant. Takahaski suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the unusual nature of the experience in japan where the mother- baby separation is very rare. so difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring when used outside Europe and the US.

Question 79

Strange situation - AO3 - good predictive validity

Answer 79

Most useful psychological measures allow us to predict what will happen in the future. Large body of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed type B - secure - tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and adulthood. In childhood this includes better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying (McCormick et al 2016,kokkinos 2007). Those with insecure resistant attachment and those not falling into types A,B and C tend to have the worst outcomes. Hazan and shaver 1987 show that infant attachment type can be seen later in romantic adult relationships. Children who are more secure make more friends than insecure infants.

Counter - although the strange situation measures something that predicts later development, it may be measuring genetic differences in anxiety (kagan 1982). This means the strain situation may not actually measure attachment.

Question 80

Strange situation - AO3 - issue with categories - internal validity

Answer 80

Inmain and Cassady (1988) study identified a further group of children. This classification group is referred to as disorganised/type D. These children show inconsistent behaviour, confusion and indecision. They also tend to freeze or stereotyped behaviour such as rocking.

Question 81

cross- cultural variations in attachment - van ijzendoorn and kroonenbergs research

Answer 81

1988 - meta -analysis
the researchers looked at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries
they also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture

Question 82

van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg procedure

Answer 82

they found 32 studies of attachment were the strange situation was used. these were conducted in 8 countries, 15 in the US. overall the studies yielded the results for 1990 children
the data was meta-analysed results being combined and weighted for sample size

Question 83

van ijzendoorn and kroonenbergs findings

Answer 83

secure attachment was the most common classification in all countries, but ranged from 50% in china to 75% in britain.

secure attachment - findings were USA 65% where infant and caregiver have regular close contact. 57% in germany where independence is valued. in israel 64% where theres communal care in the kibbutz. in japan 68% where mother and child are rarely seperated

insecure resistant- individualist cultures rates are similar to ainsworths original sample. USA = 14%, germany = 8%. not true for collectivist cultures as israel is 29% and japan is 27%

insecure-avoidant = individulist cultures = 21% in USA and 35% in germany. rates were lower in collectivist cultures israel =7% and japan =5%

Question 84

van ijzendoorn and kroonenbergs conclusions

Answer 84

variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between cultures. in the US one study found 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%

Question 85

cross-culture variations in attachment - simonelli et al (2014)

Answer 85

assessed 76 babies aged 12 months in Italy using the strange situation to see whether the proportion of attachment types still matched previous studies in Italy.
found that 50% secure, 36% insecure-avoidant. this lower rate of secure attachment may be because increasingly mothers work long hours and use more childcare. this shows that cultural changes can affect patterns of attachment

Question 86

research into cultural variations of attachment - jin et al 2012

Answer 86

compared the attachment types of 87 korean babies to proportions in other studies. found similar patterns of secure attachment to other studies. however with insecure categories there were differences - only one baby was avoidant. this pattern is similar to japan and may be because both countries have similar child-rearing practices.

Question 87

investigations into cross -cultural variations in attachment - AO3 - limitation is impact of confounding variables on findings

Answer 87

Studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in reviews or meta-analysis. Sample characteristics such as poverty, social class and Urban/rural make up confound results as does the age of participants studied in different countries. Environmental variables may also differ e.g. smaller rooms with toys might encourage babies to explore more so that’s visible proximity seeking so more likely to be classed as avoidant. This means that studies assessing attachment types carried out in different countries may tell us about little cultural differences in attachment.

Question 88

investigations into cross -cultural variations in attachment - AO3 - issue of imposing a test designed for one culture onto another

Answer 88

Impose Etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another eg of babies response to reunion with caregiver and strange situations in Britain and us lack of affection at reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment but in Germany it would be seen as a sign of independence so part of strange situation may not work in Germany. This means that it may be meaningless to compare attachment behaviours across cultures.

Question 89

investigations into cross -cultural variations in attachment - AO3 - study is not globally representative

Answer 89

Van Ijzendoorn and kroonenberg recognised data from less western orientated cultures required to establish a more global perspective of attachment classifications, Africa, Southern American and eastern European Socialist countries are not represented and many studies have limited samples so not representative of each culture e.g. in Israel kibbutz and US Urban

Question 90

investigations into cross -cultural variations in attachment - AO3 - strength is use of indigenous researchers

Answer 90

Indigenous researchers are those from the same cultural background as the participants such as grossmann et al - Germans working with German participants. Using indigenous research aids a communication between researchers and participants and help prevent misunderstandings eg of instructions. this means that there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully increasing the validity of the study.
Counter - this has not been true of all cross cultural attachment research e.g. Americans morelli and tronick 1991 investigated the Efé in Zaire. This means that some cross culture attachment research may communication errors and hence lacks validity

Question 91

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - continued emotional care is essential

Answer 91

Continuous emotional (maternal) care from a mother or mother substitute is necessary for normal emotional and intellectual development. Bowlby Believed that in infancy its as important for mental health as vitamins and proteins for physical health. - separation may lead to maternal deprivation

Question 92

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - separation is different from deprivation

Answer 92

• separation means the child not physically being in the presence of the primary attachment figure
• deprivation means losing emotional care as a result of the separation

Deprivation can be avoided if alternative emotional care is offered, thus separation doesn’t always cause deprivation.

Question 93

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - critical period of 2 1/2 yrs

Answer 93

If a child is separated from their mother (without substitute emotional care) for an extended time during the first 2 1/2 years then psychological damage is inevitable. This is a continuing risk up to the age of 5.

Question 94

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - privation vs deprivation

Answer 94

Privation is not having the opportunity to form a bond in the first instance and maternal deprivation is when a bond or attachment has been formed with the main caregiver but it has been disrupted for some reasons.

Question 95

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - intellectual development and Goldfarb

Answer 95

Lower IQ. If a child is deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period this may lead to mental retardation. Delayed intellectual development
Supported by Goldfarb - followed up to 30 orphaned children until the age of 12. Half of the original sample had been fostered by four months of age while the other half remained in an orphanage. At 12 their IQs were assessed using a standard IQ test called the Stanford - Binet test. It was found that the fostered group had an average IQ of 96 whereas the group that remained in the orphanage averaged only 68, below the cut off point used to define IDD. Lower IQ in those who remained in institutions opposed to those who were fostered so had a higher standard of emotional care.

Question 96

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - emotional development - affectionless psychopathy

Answer 96

Lack of emotional care may also lead to affectionless psychopathy - the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others. This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.

Question 97

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation- bowlbys 44 thieves study 1944

Answer 97

The sample in the study was 44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing. All ‘ thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy - characterised by a lack of affection, guilt, and empathy. Families were also interviewed to establish any prolonged separations from mothers.
Findings and conclusions - 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths. 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives. In contrast only five of the remaining 30 ‘ thieves’ had experienced separations. This suggests prolonged early separation/ deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.

Question 98

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - AO3 - support from genie

Answer 98

Before age 2 - looked in a room tied and beaten for 11 years. Age 13 - hospitalised, 59 lbs, no language and couldn’t walk. Placed in family and had expert help but limited development and remained in schools for mentally retarded. Age 20 - IQ increased but well below normal, restricted language and could not function in society. She suffered permanent emotional and developmental effects - did not catch up.

Question 99

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - AO3 - support from spitz and Wolfe

Answer 99

Studied institutionalised children in orphanages and hospitals which were poor quality and staff rarely interacted with the children. Found that a third of institutionalised children died by the age of one. Remain showed signs of ‘anaclitic depression’ apathy, withdrawal and helplessness. These symptoms reversed if the period of maternal deprivation was less than three months, but not if it was longer. Spitz compared children living in an orphanage with others, living in a penal institution where they were cared for by their mothers although physical conditions in the orphanages were better the children were developmentally inferior. Within 2yrs 57% of the orphanage were dead whereas all the ‘prison children’ were alive.

Question 100

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - AO3 - the critical period is more of a sensitive period - koluchovà 1976

Answer 100

Conducted a case study of Czech twin boys isolated from age 18 months (locked in a cupboard). Abused by their stepmother physically and emotionally. Found at age 7 and were mentally retarded, scared, severely undernourished and with very little speech. Later they were looked after by two loving adults and appeared to fully recover. Shows that severe deprivation can have positive outcomes provided that the child has some social interaction and good aftercare. Means that the period identified by Bowlby may be a ‘sensitive’ one but it is not critical.

Question 101

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - AO3 - limitation is that Bowlby confused deprivation and privation

Answer 101

Rutter (1981) may the distinction between deprivation and privation - privation has more serious effects. The children will be studied in the 44 thieves study and others he based his ideas such as gold wartime orphans may have been prived rather than deprived. This means that bowlby exaggerated the effects of deprivation on development.

Question 102

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - AO3 - limitation is that sources of evidence for maternal deprivation are flawed

Answer 102

The 44 thieves study is flawed because it was open to bias as Bowlby himself assessed both deprivation and psychopathy knowing what he hoped to find. Also goldfarbs study of wartime orphans is flawed because he used traumatised by participants who let good after-care this introducing confounding variables. This means that Bowlby originally had no solid evidence on which to base his theory of maternal deprivation..

Question 103

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation 1951 - AO3 - Tizard and hodges - limitation

Answer 103

Examined effects of institutional upbringing and later attachments. 65 children in the care home were assessed over a 16 year period. Participants in the study were all age 16 and had all been in institutional care until the age of four. During this time they had not been able to attachments because of the high turnover of staff. Age of two the children had on average 24 different carers each, at age 4 - 25 of children were returned their biological parents. 33 Were adopted and seven remained in the institution with occasional fostering. At age 16, the majority of adoptive mothers 17/21 felt that their child was deeply attached to them was only half of the restored children were described as deeply attached. Adolescence were also more often said by the others to be attached their father than the restored group. Institutional children had problems with siblings than a comparison group. There was no differences regarding the number of contacts with opposite sex friends or whether the 16-year-old currently had a boy or girlfriend compared to non-institutionalised adolescents. However, ex -institutional children had poorer relationships with peers than a comparison group. Teachers rated the ex - institutionalised group as more often quarrelsome, less often liked by other children and as bullying other children more than the comparison group.
Conclusion - hodges and tizard believes that they’re findings demonstrate that children who are deprived of close and lasting attachments to adults in their first years of life can make such attachments later it’s just depend on the adults concerned and how much they nurture such attachments.

Question 104

Short term separation - The PDD model - Robertson and Robertson 1989

Answer 104

Babies go through 3 stages when caregiver leaves
Protest - the child cries, screams and protests angrily when the parent leaves. They try to cling onto the parent.
Despair - the child protesting begins to stop and they appear to be calmer although still upset. Child refuses others attempts for comfort and often seems withdrawn and uninterested in anything.
Detachment - separation continues the child will start to engage with other people again. They will reject the caregiver on their return and show strong signs of anger

Question 105

Romanian orphan studies - institutionalisation effects – behaviour

Answer 105

Behaviours -
- rocking - to comfort themselves
- poor social skills - had no opportunity to make an attachment so no internal working model
- IQ - developmental delays - as no attachment figure, bored, less sociable, more aggressive, less intelligent as not cared for well and less toys and interaction so brain is not stimulated and doesn’t grow

Question 106

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – psychological consequences of neglect

Answer 106

Hard to make relationships with others, no ability to form attachments and ability to learn and poor language acquisition.

Question 107

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – disinhibited attachment

Answer 107

Children equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers. Highly unusual as most children at age 2 show stranger anxiety. Rutter (2006) explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during sensitive period for attachment formation eg in Romanian institutions a child may have 50 carers but doesn’t spend enough time with any of them to form a secure attachment.

Question 108

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – damage to intellects development

Answer 108

In rutters study most children showed signs of intellectual disability but most of those adopted before age of 6 months caught up with control group by age 4. Damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before age of 6 months when attachment forms.

Question 109

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – Rutter 2011 – English and Romanian adoptee study (ERA) procedure

Answer 109

Longitudinal study of 165 Romanian orphans adopted into British families in ERA study. Aim of ERA has been to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15. A group of 52 children from Uk adopted around the same time served as a control group. Children followed were in 4 groups
1. 58 under age of 6 months
2. 59 between 6 – 24 months
3. 48 over 24 months
4. A control group of 52 British adoptees

Question 110

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – Rutter 2011 – English and Romanian adoptee study (ERA) findings and conclusions

Answer 110

When children first arrived in uk half the adoptees showed delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished. At age 6 the children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment and overly friendly behaviour to strange adults. At age 11 the adopted showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption. Those adopted before age of six months was 102 compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 yrs and 77 for those adopted after two years. Those who showed disinhibited attachment at age 6 still displayed this behaviour at 11 this included – attention seeking, clingliness and social behaviour directed indiscriminately to all adults this was rare in children adopted before 6 months. In a small number of cases, quasi – autism tendencies were identified with children having problems understanding the meaning of social contexts. Intellectual problems continued at the 15yr follow up. These findings support bowlbys view that there is a sensitive period in the development of attachments – a failure to form an attachment before the age of 6 months (and after age of 2years) appears to have long lasting effects.

Question 111

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – physical development deprivation dwarfism

Answer 111

Institutionalised children are usually smaller as lack of emotional care could affect growth hormones causing underdevelopment ( gardener 1972). Gina studied the case of an 8 month girl who had to be fed through a tube due to malformation. Her mum would never cuddle her for fear of dislodging the tube. Eight months old she was withdrawn and physically stunted and she was admitted to hospital. With attention of hospital staff, she thrived off the attention and return to normal.

Question 112

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – zeanah et al (2005) Bucharest early intervention project (BEI)

Answer 112

The researchers used the strange situation to assess attached in 95 Romanian children age 12 to 31 months most of their lives in institutional care. They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never experienced institutional care. Only 19% of the institutionalised group was secure attached (74% of controls) and 44% of the group had characteristics of disinhibited attachment ( 20% of the controls).

Question 113

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – AO3 – real -world application

Answer 113

Improved conditions for children growing up outside their family more. Studying the Romanian orphans has improved psychologists understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects. This led to improvements in the conditions experienced by looked after children - children growing up in the care system e.g. children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child instead children have one or two ‘ key workers’ central role in the emotional care. Educational care is now seen as an undesirable option for looked after children. A considerable effort is made to accommodate such children in foster care or have them adopted. Instead, children in institutional care have a chance to develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided.

Question 114

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – AO3 – lack of adult data

Answer 114

Latest data from the ERA study looked at the children in there early to mid 20s so we do not currently have data to answer some of the most interesting research questions but the long-term effects of early institutional care. These research questions include the lifetime prevalence of mental health problems and participants, success performing and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships. It will take a long time to gather this day because the longitudinal designer of the study it will be sometime before we know more completely what the long-term effects are for the Romanian orphans. Improvements could have continued and they catch their peers in development in the early adult hood.

Question 115

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation – AO3 – Hodges and Tizard (1989)

Answer 115

Provide evidence that the adverse effects of institutionalisation can be overcome with adequate substitute care, children adopted with affectionate families coped better on measures of behavioural and peer relationships than children returned their original families.

Question 116

Romanian orphan studies -effects of institutionalisation - AO3 – fewer confounding variables

Answer 116

Previous orphan studies of revolved children had experienced varying degrees of trauma and difficult to know the effects of neglect, physical abuse and bereavement from those of institutional care. But children from Romanian orphan is overall had been handed over by loving parents who could not afford to keep them. So results were much less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences = high internal validity

Question 117

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model

Answer 117

Bowlby (1969) suggests that a baby’s first attachment quality is crucial because it provides a template that will affect the nature of the future relationships. This is due to the influence of internal working model created by that first attachment.
A child whose first experience is of loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure assumes this is how all relationships are meant to be. They will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them. Good attachment = good relationship expectations
A child with bad experiences for the first attachment with these experiences to bear on later relationships. This may mean they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they do not behave appropriately in them. Bad attachment = bad relationship expectations

Question 118

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model – kerns 1994

Answer 118

Securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships.

Question 119

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model – links with friendships and bullying

Answer 119

Security attached children are less likely to be involved in bullying whereas insecure-avoidant children are most likely to be victims and insecure-resistant are most likely to be bullies (Myron-Wilson and Smith 1998)

Question 120

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model – bailey et al 2007

Answer 120

People based their parenting start on their internal working model. Bailey et al found the majority of mothers had the same attachment classification to their babies as they had to their own mothers.

Question 121

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model – Hazan and Shaver 1987 the love quiz

Answer 121

Assessed bowlbys idea that early attention styles will be reflected in adult romantic relationships. Conducted a classic study of the association between attachment and adult relationships.
Method – questionnaire
Design – repeated measures
Variables – infant atttachment type and attitude to the most important love relationship.
Procedure – analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in an American local newspaper.
The quiz had 3 sections
1. Assessing respondents current or most significant relationship
2. Assessed general love experiences such as number of parents
3. Assess attachment type by responding to one of the three statements
Findings - 56% of respondents secure, 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure-resistant. Adults with secure attachment in childhood were more accepting and supportive of their partners despite their faults. Adults with avoidant infant attachments were afraid of intimacy, more highs and lows and experienced jealousy. Adults with resistant relationships were prone to obsession and extreme sexual attraction and extreme jealousy. Love experience and attitudes towards love (internal working model) related to attachment type.
Securely - believes love is enduring had mutual trust and less likely to get divorced
Insecure - felt was rare and out of love easily and found relationships less easy were more likely to be divorced.

Question 122

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model – AO3 – validity issues with retrospective studies

Answer 122

Most studies assess participants attachment type in adult hood (not infancy) but asking questions in questionnaires or interviews. Asking questions realise on the honesty and accurate perception of the participants. Another problem is these studies assess attachment in late childhood or adulthood and assumed it has remained the same since infancy. This means that the measures of attachment may not be valid.

Question 123

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model – AO3 – confounding variables

Answer 123

Some studies do assess attachment infancy which means the assessment of early attachment is valid. However even these studies may have validity problems because associations between attachment quality and later development may be affected by confounding variables e.g. association doesn’t mean causality as parenting style may influence attachment quality and later development. Alternatively, genetically influenced personality may be an influence on both factors. We can never be sure that it is early attachment and not some other factor that is influencing later development.

Question 124

Influence of early attachments on childhood and adult relationships – internal working model – AO3 – research support

Answer 124

Reviews of studies linking attachment to later development Fearon and Roisman 2017 concluded infinite attachments predicts later attach, emotional well-being attachment to own children. How Strong relationship is between early attachment type and later development depends on both the attachment type and the aspect of later development. Disorganised attachment was most predictive eg of later mental disorder, so this means that insecure attachment appears to convey a disadvantage for children’s development. Secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future developments.
Counter - not all evidence supports link between infant attachment and later development. Eg the Regensburg longitudinal study (Becker- stoll et al 2008) found no evidence of continuity of attachment type from age 1 to 16 yrs. This means it is not clear how strongly attachment influence later development.